With much secrecy and privacy, Óscar “Cachito” Salomón, president of the National Congress, and Juan Afara, official national senator, traveled to the Arab country of Syria last Saturday, July 16.
Parliament sources that we prefer not to mention, reported that at the invitation of Senator Juan Afara, Óscar “Cachito” Salomón, president of the National Congress, will accompany him to Syria. The reason was to put the consulate into operation, which is the formal part of the trip.
Likewise, on the other hand, they were invited by a group of Syrian businessmen who are the ones who pay for the entire trip, including transportation, accommodation and food.
It should be remembered that Afara and Solomon are also businessmen. What is striking is that legislators usually only make parliamentary trips. But business travel is not common. Nor the acceptance of private invitations.
CONTEXT
Both Solomon and Afara are descendants of Lebanese Syrian immigrants. According to official portals of the Syrian Government, both legislators were invited by Bashar Al Assad, president of that country since 2000, who replaced his father in office.
It is emphasized that the diplomatic mission of the legislators is to “strengthen the bonds of friendship” between both countries.
The Paraguayan delegation was received by Hammouda Sabbagh, president of the Syrian Parliament on Saturday. They also met with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad.
The Foreign Minister of the Syrian government considered that relations between his country and Paraguay are constantly being strengthened and that the peoples of the two countries are committed to common principles of sovereignty and independence of political decision, the portals affirm.
They also point out that the Foreign Minister of Al Assad’s government spoke before the President of the Paraguayan Congress about what his country considers Western interference in Syrian affairs. In this sense, he said that the West’s support with weapons and billions of dollars for terrorism in Syria is a continuation of an aggressive policy against his country. He also considered that Western policies that support terrorism in Syria impede political efforts for the recovery and stabilization of the country.
